


Holmses and Watsons

by starluff



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms, Sherlock Holmes (1984 TV), Sherlock Holmes (Downey films)
Genre: Banter, Community: watsons_woes, Crack, Gen, What Was I Thinking?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-16
Updated: 2014-07-16
Packaged: 2018-03-10 11:35:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3288893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starluff/pseuds/starluff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John had not been having a good day, even before he met two different versions of himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know, man. I just don't even know. Written (on time, for once in my life) for the prompt, Crackiness.

John had not been having a very good day. It was sad that Sherlock, his _best friend,_ had a habit of giving John bad days, just as much as he is capable of giving him some of the best days of his life, but perhaps that was just life balancing out.

In any case, John had not been happy earlier. He and Sherlock had been on the same case for a week and had hit dead end after dead end, and it was affecting Sherlock negatively. Challenges were great for Sherlock but this one had cut quite deeply; according to him, nothing made sense. It was one of those few times when Sherlock was completely baffled, and, naturally, he had not enjoyed the feeling. John's mission for the week had been simply to try and keep Sherlock alive, whether by trying to get him to eat and sleep, or to keep him from getting murdered by calming down people who had the misfortune of getting in his way. John had been taxed to the limit and was quite fed up. Then, Sherlock had made a deduction that he absolutely refused to share with anyone else, not even John. Which, honestly, pissed John off, but he was smart enough not to say anything. So he followed quietly and waited for the climax before saying anything. By 'saying', he was thinking more along the lines of yelling and berating, and deciding exactly _what_ he was going to tell the arrogant oaf was one of the things that had made him able to get through the day.

Sherlock took John (as was his habit) to the police station and demanded to be shown a seemingly-insignificant piece of evidence: a wrist watch. Then, instead of running off somewhere else, instead of looking at the watch and deducing who had last owned the watch and who his brother was and who was having an affair with who, Sherlock had decided to go home. All the way back to Baker Street, he had muttered cryptic words, and repeated his favorite saying, "once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth," as if to convince himself of the possibilities. Again, John had done nothing but keep silent and wait.

Finally, they were back. Rudely ignoring Mrs. Hudson, Sherlock ran up the stairs, taking them three at a time, with John pointedly going at a normal speed. There, he immediately flung himself into the couch (he was incapable of sitting down when he was excited) and stared at the watch. By the time John reached him, Sherlock seemed to have made up his mind on what to do.

"Come here, John," he said without looking up. Sighing, John decided he was too tired to argue, so he went over. When Sherlock held out his hand, John took it. Then, Sherlock had pressed a button on the watch.

Everything went black.

Now, John was just about coming to consciousness. He considered just lying there, because the floor is really quite comfortable and he didn't relish the idea of facing Sherlock again, but it was because of Sherlock that he fights to wake up. His thoughts were muddled and confused, and he couldn't make out the difference between reality and dream, the way one does when they're dream is rudely interrupted. The surprising thing was, before he even screwed up his face or groaned in an effort to wake up, he heard someone say, "it would seem that your Watson is coming to, Benedict."

"Yes, I noticed," was that Sherlock? Did that man call him Benedict?

Intrigued, John made an extra effort and this time managed it to actually open his eyes. After a moment, the hazy blurs took shape, in the form of Sherlock, looking at him with seeming indifference – John knew better, though; if Sherlock didn't care, why would he be checking his pulse, as he was doing? John blinked the remaining haziness from his eyes and sat up slowly, clutching his head as it began to throb.

He was sitting in a room with one...two...three...five other people. John noticed that two of the men had dark hair and eyes, while the other two both had blond hair and blue eyes, like himself. An odd coincidence but John didn't really think about it much. Where were they, anyway?

The room was...odd, too. It had seemed a bit small, but that was only because the darkness was so thick and abrupt at both ends that they seemed like walls. Upon closer inspection, Watson decided that the place looked like a hallway of questionable length. It couldn't have been more 60 square meters or so, if you consider the shadows walls.

"Good morning, John," Sherlock said cheerfully, once John's pulse seemed to have satisfied him, "it took you long enough. I hope you don't mind that name Martin?"

"Mar – wait, what?" John felt that it was in his right to ask dumb questions when the person in front of him was being particularly stingy with his information.

"He decided that he would give you the name of Martin, quite of his own accord," replied one of the dark haired men said. His whole look gave a vibe of messiness, with unkempt, curly hair and dressed in shirtsleeves.

There was a blond man beside him who looked more tidy than the dark-haired man, with a neat trimmed mustache and close-cropped hair. He had a certain stern, tough look to him, though his eyes betrayed a measure of humour. He snorted, "as if you didn't give me my name without consulting me."

"And what's wrong with Jude?" The dark-haired man shot back. The two had the air of two friends who did this a lot and were likely to go on for a while, so John quickly cut in, "guys! Hey! I'd like some answers here, what's going on?! What's this about names?"

"It would seem, John, that that wrist watch sent us to another dimension. These men here are actually our counter-parts: these two are me from two different dimensions, two Sherlock Holmes," he gestured to the two dark-haired men, "while these two are John Watsons," here, he pointed to the two blond men. One, the one called Jude it would seem, smiled sympathetically, while the other smiled in greeting.

John paused to count to ten, then decided he should count up to thirty instead. When he was done, he took a deep breath and said, "what, like in the comic books?" Because, if John were to be honest, Sherlock never lied and this seemed too far-fetched, even for Sherlock to come up with. For now, John would hang his disbelief for a moment and try to figure out what was going on.

"So it would seem," Sherlock replied and looked like he was about to say more but John cut him off.

"So you two," John pointed at the two dark-haired men, and noticed that the third had the only straight hair out of the three, and had a certain...class and refinement about him that might have made John aware of his own casual jumper, if he happened to be in the mood to care at the moment, "are both Sherlock Holmes?"

They nodded their assent and John quickly continued before they could get any words out, "are you all opposites, or are you all the same? Are you all consulting detectives? Smug, arrogant geniuses?"

"The works," the neatly-trimmed blond man replied, and smiled pleasantly at the three pairs of piercing, slightly miffed gazes directed at him.

John paused for a moment before saying, "dear god, there are three of you? Isn't one enough?"

The neatly-trimmed man burst out laughing, while his companion frowned, "that's what you said!"

Just when John thought his head would never stop spinning, the third and last blond man stood up and made his way over to him. He looked prim and proper, like his companion, but his smile was wide and genuine and made John instantly like him. He extended his hand and, in the movement, John felt some feeling of calm at the recognizable action, and took it. The man helped him up and, when John made sure he was steady on his feet, shook the hand he held. "Hello. My name is John Watson, though I suppose you already know that. Me, you, and that fellow over there all share, not only the same name, but also the same identity. No, I don't understand it anymore than you do, but living with Holmes for so many years has taught me to only ask questions at the climax, as I'm sure you've learned as well. How are you feeling?"

"Better. Better, yeah, thanks," John replied, hoping the true extent of his gratitude was conveyed.

"About the name Martin," the man continued, "we decided a while ago that it might be convenient if we each chose a different name, seeing as how we all share the same. For example, I christened myself David," the side of his lip twitched, "and my own Holmes called himself Jeremy," here he gestured to the Holmes who had been next to him, the one with the straight hair and sardonic grin. "Over there," he gestured to the messy Holmes and Watson, "that Holmes took the liberty of naming his friend Jude, and Jude got annoyed, so he decided it was only fair to name Holmes himself, and he chose Robert."

"I _refused_ to be called Francis," Robert/Holmes muttered with his nose in the air. Jude/Watson smirked.

"I decided to call myself Benedict," John's Sherlock said, seeming a bit annoyed that David was hogging all the attention, "and I thought that Martin would suit you."

"I, er," John didn't feel like he wanted to accept the fact that Sherlock had named him but he didn't see any problem with the name, so he just shrugged. "Okay, so I'm Martin. Nice to meet you guys." He gave an overly exaggerated wave.

"So, uh, what now?"


	2. Chapter 2

Before anyone could respond to John – no, Martin – the place began to shake. Everyone staggered as the floor shook.

"What's going on?!" Cried...David, was it?

Jude would forever deny it but the first thing he did when the floor shook was reach for his Holmes, who he then found on the floor, sliding away.

"The floor is breaking! What do we do?!" Martin cried. In his defense, he seemed quite calm and collected as he battled to keep his balance.

Indeed, the floor _was_ breaking, right in the middle, and each half tilted toward the black, so that Robert was slowly sliding toward the black. Jude ran to reach Robert but the floor tilted too much and he lost his footing and he slid. He reached out for any kind of grip but could find none, and then he was falling...

Jude got a sense of deja vu as he slowly came to. Hadn't he just done this, when he was back in that blasted room? He had been third to get up, after Jeremy and Robert. He now pushed himself up with hands and rubbed his head, which was aching again. Blast it all. There was Benedict lying next to him, and David as well. Looking around, Jude couldn't see anyone else.

"Where are we _now_?" David groaned unexpectedly, made even more unexpected by the fact that his voice was tinged with annoyance. Despite the petty jabs and remarks made by three particularly large egos (just a minute before Martin woke up and effectively paused the bickering) David had not shown anything but tolerance and calm.

"We're back home," Jude said with uncharacteristic surprise. He quickly amended, "well, back where Robert and I are from. Not on Baker Street, at any rate."

"How can you be so sure that it's your world and not mine?" David asked. "After all, you and I are both from the Victorian era, only Martin and Benedict are from the future."

"There is a certain feel to every world, David," Benedict replied in his signature hauteur, "I should think that, even if we were to go to a different time or country in your or my world, we would still recognize it."

"Really?" David asked with obvious interest, "why would you say that?"

Benedict smiled, and, despite how completely different in looks he was from Robert, Jude could not help but see the comparison. The looks hardly mattered, or event he body language, but all three Holmses (well, maybe not Jeremy, Jude had not had a chance to look him over) had the same arrogance and eagerness to show off. None of them were any different from Robert in the respect.

"The way that Jude was looking around him suggested that-"

"Yes, yes, we all know how amazing you are with your deductions and whatnot, but can we focus?" Jude cut in. He'd had enough of astounding deductions for one life time, thank you. They didn't have the privilege to listen to another at the moment, in any case. "I don't care _where_ we are but why are here? Where is everyone else?"

"And what does all this have to do with our watches?" David asked.

"The things that transported us?" Jude asked.

"Yes, if you had cared at all to see what was going on around you, you might have noticed that everyone has a replica of whatever device brought them here," Benedict replied, obviously still annoyed.

Jude raised an eyebrow and looked in his pocket. It was true, inside was the same pocket watch that had brought him and Robert here, albeit only half. Only the cover of the pocket watch was there, which probably meant that the body itself was with Robert. There was no way Jude was going to ask Benedict to find out, so he stayed quiet and didn't mention it, other than to grunt when he saw the watch.

If truth be told, he still didn't feel at ease around Benedict. Sure, he was used to Robert, who might arguably be worse than the other two, but that didn't mean he had to like them. Jude was never an overly trusting person, no matter what the circumstance, and didn't become close to people easily. This had calmed down somewhat since he met Robert, but there was still something about Benedict that made him uneasy.

David, on the other hand, seemed like an idiot. Jude decided, for the sake of his sanity, that he would _not_ think about the fact that he had two versions of himself. Besides, it was easy to forget. All three looked as different as the three Holmses, and since their personalities weren't as recognizable as a Holmes, he could easily ignore the fact that David was... _him._ Besides, who would ever place David as being Jude from another world? He was much too...kind wasn't the word to use. He was too eager to please and frankly seemed to idolize his Holmes – namely, Jeremy. And, if Jude was feeling particularly cynical, he reminded Jude of a puppy; eager to please his master and slumped whenever he wasn't able. Jude, on the other hand, couldn't care less what Robert thought of him, whether he thought he was stupid (which he did but in the fondest way) or otherwise.

Benedict frowned suddenly while his hand was burrowed in his pocket. He rummaged around for a bit and then pulled out a piece of paper. He looked at it and, if it were possible, his frown deepened.

"What is it?" Jude asked quickly. He was getting a weird vibe from that paper and quickly went to look over Benedict's admittedly-tall shoulder, David already there.

" _'Find the solitaire deck',"_ David read and turned to Benedict with a confused look, "why, Holmes, what could it mean?"

Benedict was enjoying the attention too much, though that was showed in only a side glance a twitch of his lip, before his expression became annoyed and he glared at the paper. Then the glare became an outright glower and he gnashed his teeth.

Jude sighed, "what, is the color not to your liking?"

"Can't you deduce anything from it?" David asked quietly. Jude shot him a quick look but David's face had suddenly become unreadable. When had that happened?

"The paper, the font, the ink, none of this makes sense!" Benedict cried and he began to pace vehemently, never once taking his eyes off the paper.

"Benedict, did you ever think that, perhaps, you might not know because you're not in your world?" Jude asked. When Benedict stopped and looked at him suddenly, Jude continued, "think about it, if you're like Robert then you don't know any useless information, correct? Brain attic space is finite, and all that?"

"Hard drive," Benedict murmured but seemingly more to himself.

Jude ignored him, "then how could you possibly know all that there is to know about a whole different _world_ , set in a different time line from your own?"

Benedict glowered all the more but Jude thought that he might have seen the beginnings of acceptance, or at least understanding, as he looked back at the paper. Jude tried to be a rock of common sense, if for no other reason than that there was no one else to do it. David, meanwhile, seemed to be patiently waiting for the conversation to run its course.

"Look, how about we just go back to Baker Street?" Jude asked. "We're all worried about our friends but – well, in the words of Holmes himself, we 'can't make bricks without clay' or whatever it is he says. You," Jude gestured to Benedict, "need a new change of clothes and from there we can plan whatever we need to do. But for now, we need to move."

Benedict frowned reluctantly but finally nodded and followed behind the two Watsons as they set out for Baker Street.


End file.
